Monday, June 19, 2006

A couple of months ago I slammed my pinkie in car door. There was some blood, some flapping skin, some pain. There was also some fainting and a little ice.

After the trauma subsided, Pinkie seemed to be doing alright. He had a bit of an ugly black spot at the bottom of the nail but the skin reattached itself and the nail seemed firmly in place. For this I was grateful.

The black spot started growing out and when it reached the top, I was horrified to find that Pinkie's nail was not as firmly attached as previously believed. Since the damage seemed only to be on one side of the nail, I thought I could stick it out and wait for the healthy nail to grow-up. That is until I was knee-deep in laundry and snaggy fabric yesterday.

The hanging nail got caught-up in some netting and practically ripped right off poor Pinkie. I had to do some impromptu surgery involving nail clippers and tiny, tiny scissors. The end result is a snarly, grotesque looking finger. I told Pinkie that it was badass and that he should be proud of his war scars but I think he's feeling a bit exposed.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

In honor of today's date I've been thinking a lot about fire and hell and how closely the Arizona wilderness takes on the characteristics of Hades, especially this time of year. Currently, there are about 12 wild fires burning around the state. Some of these were caused by lightening, others by humans. With the intense lack of rain this year, our wildfire season began early and is off to an avenging start.

As you might imagine tumbleweeds make for great tinder. Tumbleweeds that have yet to tumble are even more dangerous as brush ignites if you so much as rub your thigh against it. Combine all this potential combustibility with a dew point of, oh say, Zero and temperatures hovering around 107, and the outcome ain't purty.

The season for wildfires has just begun too which is making it even more frustrating for all the firefighters out there working to keep things under control. I've got to hand it to them, I have no idea how they do their job. Literally, hundreds of men are out there on rocky mountains sweating under 30 pounds of gear, staggering temperatures, and smoke. They brave it out though digging trenches and removing hazardous brush. The least we can do is exert some care when playing outside with fire.

Friday, June 02, 2006

When it's 110 degrees outside there isn't much you can do but stay indoors. It doesn't cool off in the evenings. For instance, it's currently 10:00 pm and it's 94 degrees out, no breeze. It's time to toughen-up, folks! I'm still growing into my desert bones. The problem is, when you step into any building around here, it's going to be 60 degreees. In-60, Out-110, In-60, Out-110. All that temperature flux is exhausting. I think its time for a dip in the pool.